The NHL postponed Monday’s game between the Stars and Columbus after Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench in the first period.

Peverley was conscious and talking but was taken to UT Southwestern St. Paul and to receive treatment, the Stars said. He was in stable condition there. He also received treatment in the tunnel immediately after he finished a shift and collapsed on the bench.“He was brought back to the hallway for treatment, where we treated him for a cardiac event, successfully treated with standard therapy,” said Dr. Gil Salazar of UT Southwestern, one of the doctors who treated Peverley. “As soon as we treated him, he regained consciousness. He was alert and awake talking to us after the event and quickly transported to the hospital. At this point, I was able to talk to him in the back of the ambulance, and he was able to tell me where he was and he actually wanted to get back in the game.”

Salazar said of the treatment, “We provided oxygen for him. We started an IV. We did chest compressions on him and defibrillated him, provided some electricity to bring a rhythm back to his heart, and that was successful with one attempt, which is very reassuring.”The NHL postponed the game, and there was no report on when it might be rescheduled, but both teams are in playoff races, so Stars president Jim Lites said the game would be completed.

Dr. William Robertson, chief of sports medicine at UT Southwestern, said the crew on hand responded quickly.

“We have a specialized team that’s implemented that trains preseason with the training staff who did a fantastic job today, and that team is made up of internal medicine doctors, orthopedic surgeons, trauma surgeons, trauma doctors, airway specialists, they’re all here to respond to incidents like this along with the Dallas Fire and Rescue paramedic staff,” Robertson said.

“We train for episodes like this with the hopes that they never arise, but our ability to act today quickly for Rich is a testament to the training staff and the team approach to how we prepare for these events.”

Peverley, 31, missed the entire preseason and the first game of the season to receive treatment for an irregular heartbeat. He has been on medication during the season and has missed only one game since the season opener. However, that was last Tuesday’s game in Columbus. Peverley had a problem with the heartbeat after Monday’s game in Dallas against Buffalo and was not able to fly to Columbus.Peverley said he was fine Tuesday, and he returned to play Thursday against Vancouver. He played that game and Saturday night’s game against Minnesota. He logged 12:51 and had two assists against Vancouver and logged 16:47 and had one assist against Minnesota.